Computing: Two portables, but only one's got muscle

COMPUTINGThe impossible dream?

In my endless quest for a small, usable and affordable Windows notebook, I've been mostly frustrated. Netbooks lack power, while small notebooks with decent power often come with an unwanted feature — premium pricing.

Still, I persevere.

Ideally, I want a notebook that's small and light enough that I barely notice it in my backpack. It needs a keyboard that doesn't cause me to hit the backspace key constantly; enough muscle so it doesn't bog down when more than three programs are running; all the usual connectivity and hardware features; and a price that doesn't make me wince.

Are these new portables from MSI and Alienware the answer to my dreams? Let's find out.

Wind U160 — $430, MSI. This latest version of MSI's netbook has an intriguing claim to fame: It supposedly gets 15 hours of battery life on a single charge. Staying power is generally one of the attractive features of netbooks.

As with most netbooks, the U160 has modest hardware specs: an Intel Atom 1.66-gigahertz processor, a single gigabyte of memory, a 250-GB hard drive and a beautiful, bright 10-inch display. It's got 3 USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet jack, an 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter, a webcam, a memory-card reader, headphone/microphone jacks and a VGA monitor port. The plastic, bronze-colored case felt rugged, and MSI says it's got a scratch-resistant surface.

The U160 is light, at 2.6 pounds. It's also small, due to its 10-inch screen. The keyboard is cramped, but not just from a lack of real estate. There is a lot of space between each key, which means all the keys are smaller than if they were edge-to-edge. MSI also makes the classic mistake of shrinking the right shift key, then placing the Up-cursor arrow next to it. Typing is uncomfortable and error-prone as a result.

The U160 is sluggish, particularly when several programs are running at once. But even just launching the Windows Control Panel will have you waiting a while.

And about that vaunted battery life: Yes, it's very good. I got around 12 hours with average usage that included Wi-Fi, Web surfing and some light video.

The U160 comes with a small amount of junkware. There are trial versions of Microsoft Works and Office 2007 (why both?) and Norton Internet Security.

If battery longevity is your primary concern in a netbook, this is a good choice. But like most offerings in this category, it's not the most comfortable portable to use.

M11x — $1,099, Alienware. At the other end of the spectrum sits this tiny monster. The M11x is an attempt by Alienware (owned by Dell) to pack a decent gaming computer into an ultraportable notebook.

The M11x uses a low-power Core 2 Duo U7300 processor that normally runs at 1.3 GHz, but it's been overclocked to 1.73 GHz. My review unit came with 4 GB of memory, a 500-GB hard drive and an 11.6-inch display. Because it's aimed at gamers, it's got an nVidia GeForce GT 335M video card. But when battery life is more important, you can press Fn-F6 and switch to less-demanding Intel graphics.

The nVidia card also helps when you connect this to a high-definition monitor — the M11x comes with both an HDMI and DisplayPort connection. It also has three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, 802.11n Wi-Fi, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, two headphones and a mic jack, a webcam and a memory card reader.

The case is a black plastic, with lighting effects on the edge and below the screen. The signature alien-head logo's eyes light up on the back of the screen, and the keyboard is backlit. You can control the lighting's colors and even have them morph between different colors.

For a small notebook, the M11x is fairly hefty, at 4.4 pounds. There's ample space for your palms below the keyboard, and an oversized trackpad with multitouch gestures, including pinch and zoom. But the keyboard still feels cramped, and I found myself making too many errors on it.

The M11x lives up to its performance billing. I played Left 4 Dead 2, and the game ran without a stutter. To keep the system cool, an internal fan runs almost all the time, making this a relatively noisy notebook.

Battery life was about three hours with the nVidia graphics and closer to five using the Intel adapter.

The M11x comes with almost no junkware — just some utilities for controlling some of the features and a copy of Steam, the popular gaming platform from Valve. There's no antivirus software included; you'll have to find and install your own.

Clearly, the Alienware system is the superior portable, but they are in two different classes. Still, if I had to choose and I had the extra cash to burn, I'd make mine the Alienware.